Tether strap that allows rotation of a safety seat about a vertical axis

ABSTRACT

A tether arrangement for a safety seat for a motor vehicle where the safety seat is rotatably mounted to a base, the tether arrangement having a tether strap, a tether connector on the strap for attachment to an anchor point, and a strap take up reel such as an inertia reel mounted on the safety seat onto which the tether strap is attached and wound so that when the safety seat is rotated with respect to the base, the tether strap unwinds from and back onto the strap take up reel. One end of the tether strap can attach to one side of the safety seat with the tether strap passing through the anchor point and the other end of the tether strap attached and wound onto the strap take up reel at the other side of the safety seat.

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to a tether strap for a safety seat, andin particular to a tether strap which allows rotation of a safety seatabout a vertical axis without disconnection of the tether strap.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Safety seats which are pivotally connected to a base allow theseat to rotate from a forward facing position to a sideways positionthat will enable easier insertion of an occupant into the safety seat.For example, the safety seat can rotate through 90° so that the seat orseat and occupant are facing the doorway of the motor vehicle. Thisobviously provides a significant improvement in placing or removing achild into or out of the safety seat.

[0003] In order to achieve rotation of the safety seat, it is pivotallyattached to a base which in turn is secured to the squab of a motorvehicle seat.

[0004] It is desirable, and often required, to have a tether strap whichconnects the head end of the safety seat to an anchor point. Thisrestrains forward movement of the safety seat during a collision.

[0005] However, the rotation of the safety seat will clearly not bepossible with the connection of a tether strap to the head end of thesafety seat.

[0006] Accordingly, the invention is directed to providing a means ofusing a tether strap with such a safety seat while at the same timeenabling easy rotation of the safety seat while the tether strap isconnected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In one form the invention is said to reside in a tetherarrangement for a safety seat for a motor vehicle where the safety seatis rotatably mounted to a base, the tether arrangement comprising:

[0008] a tether strap,

[0009] a tether connector on said strap for attachment to an anchorpoint, and

[0010] a strap take up reel mounted on said safety seat onto which saidtether strap is attached and wound so that when said safety seat isrotated with respect to said base, said tether strap is able to unwindfrom and wind back onto said strap take up reel.

[0011] In one embodiment the strap take up wheel is an inertia reel.

[0012] The inertia reel may be of a type adapted to sense accelerationor deceleration of the motor vehicle and thereby lock the reel toprevent it from unwinding.

[0013] Alternatively the inertia reel may be of a type which when a slowcontinuous force is applied to the tether strap wound onto the reel thereel will rotate allowing the tether strap to unwind from the reel butif a sudden force is applied to the tether strap, the reel will lockwhereby if the safety seat is rotated about its base, the reel willrotate thereby allowing the tether strap to lengthen by unwinding fromthe reel and unwinding of the inertia reel will tension a spring whichwill act to rewind the strap when the safety seat is returned to itsforward facing position but in an accident situation a sudden forceapplied by the tether strap to the reel will cause it to lock.

[0014] In an alternative embodiment the strap take up reel may bemanually operable whereby a manual operation is adapted to enableunwinding of the tether strap and the unwinding of the inertia reel willtension a spring which will act to rewind the strap when the safety seatis returned to its forward facing position.

[0015] The manual operation may be the pressing of a button or the like.

[0016] A single length of tether strap may be used that extends from thehead end of the safety seat to the anchor point.

[0017] Alternatively, the tether strap may be used in a V-shapedconfiguration with one end of the tether strap is attached to one sideof the safety seat with the tether strap passing through the anchorpoint and the other end of the tether strap attached and wound onto theinertia reel at the other side of the safety seat whereby if the safetyseat is rotated one way the tether strap can extend directly from theinertia reel to allow the rotation and if the safety seat is rotated theother way the tether strap can extend from the inertia reel and passthrough the tether connector to allow lengthening of the tether strap onthe other side.

[0018] There may be an attachment point or mounting recess for theinertial reel on either side of the head end of the safety seat so thatthe inertia reel may be placed on either side of the head end of thesafety seat so that when the seat can be set up to be rotated to eitherthe right hand side or the left hand side.

[0019] Alternatively there may be inertia reels on both sides of thehead end of the safety seat so that when the seat can be rotated toeither the right hand side or the left hand side.

[0020] Such arrangements as discussed above will allow the safety seatto be rotated without disconnection of the tether strap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to fully understand the invention, preferred embodimentswill now be described. However, it should be realised that the scope ofthe invention is not to be limited to the features of these embodiment.The various embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings inwhich:

[0022]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a safety seat base and tetherarrangement according to one embodiment of the invention,

[0023]FIGS. 2a, 2 b and 2 c are a sequence of drawings illustrating therotation of the safety seat of FIG. 1 from a forward facing position(FIG. 2a) through 90° so that the safety seat faces the doorway of themotor vehicle (FIG. 2c),

[0024]FIG. 3 is a part perspective view showing the mounting of aninertia reel in a safety seat,

[0025]FIG. 4 is a part perspective view showing an alternativeembodiment of tether arrangement and mounting of an inertia reel in asafety seat, and

[0026]FIG. 5 is a part perspective view showing an alternativeembodiment of tether arrangement and manually operable take up reel in asafety seat.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0027] Referring to FIG. 1, the safety seat 10 is rotatably attached toa base 11. The base 11 is secured to a motor vehicle seat 12 using themotor vehicle seat safety belt (not shown) or some other form ofconnection which prevents forward movement of the base 11.

[0028] A tether strap 14 is secured to the head end of the safety seat10 and extends rearwardly of the safety seat 10 to an anchorage point15. The tether strap 14 locates through an aperture 16 of a tetherconnector 17. The tether connector 17 attaches to the anchor point 15.

[0029] As seen in FIG. 3, the tether strap 14 incorporates a lengthadjuster 19. This enables the tether strap 14 to be lengthened orshortened as required.

[0030] A first side 20 of the tether strap 14 is fixed to the head endof the safety seat 10. This can be either by way of threaded fastenersor the tether strap 14 being looped through an aperture of a bracket andthen stitched.

[0031] The second end 21 of the tether strap 14 is attached to aninertia reel 22. The inertia reel 22 is located within a recess 23formed in the backrest of the safety seat 10. As mentioned above, theinertia reel 22 is of the type commonly used in motor vehicle seat beltsand allows slow withdrawal of the tether strap 14 but locks if the rateof rotation of the reel exceeds a predetermined amount. It also rewindsunder spring action. Accordingly, the safety seat 10 can be rotated onthe base 11 which will then cause the tether strap 14 to rotate theinertia reel 22. Provided that the rotation of the safety seat is notexcessive, the inertia reel 22 will rotate and allow the tether strap 14to unroll. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2 c, the safety seat 10can be rotated from a forward facing position through 90° so that thesafety seat 10 faces the opening of the motor vehicle doorway. This willthen make it considerably easier to insert or remove an occupant. As thesafety seat 10 is rotated back to the position shown in FIG. 2a, theinertia reel will rewind the tether strap 14.

[0032] An alternative to this embodiment is to have a single strapextending from the tether connector 17 to a inertia reel 22.

[0033] In addition, to using the invention on a forward facing safetyseat 10 which is rotated through 90°, the invention is also suited touse with safety seats 10 which are rotated from a forward facingposition to a rearward facing position. In this case, either the tetherstraps shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 may be used or the alternative of a singletether strap 14 may be used.

[0034]FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of tether arrangement for asafety seat in a motor vehicle. In this embodiment the safety seat 10 isrotatably mounted to a base 11. The base 11 is secured to a motorvehicle seat 12 using the motor vehicle seat safety belt (not shown) orsome other form of connection which prevents forward movement of thebase 11.

[0035] A tether strap 30 is secured to the head end of the safety seat10 and extends rearwardly of the safety seat 10 to an anchorage point15. The tether strap 30 locates through an aperture 16 of a tetherconnector 17. The tether connector 17 attaches to the anchor point 15.The tether strap 30 can be disconnected from the anchor point 15 bydisconnection of the tether connector 17 from the anchor point 15.

[0036] The second end 32 of the tether strap 30 is attached to and woundonto an inertia reel 36. The inertia reel 36 is located within a recess34 formed in the backrest of the safety seat 10. As mentioned above, theinertia reel 36 is of the type commonly used in motor vehicle seat beltsand allows slow withdrawal of the tether strap 30 but locks if the rateof rotation of the reel exceeds a predetermined amount. It also rewindsunder spring action. Accordingly, the safety seat 10 can be rotated onthe base 11 which will then cause the tether strap 30 to rotate theinertia reel 36. Provided that the rotation of the safety seat is notexcessive, the inertia reel 36 will rotate and allow the tether strap 30to unreel.

[0037]FIG. 5 is a part perspective view showing an alternativeembodiment of tether arrangement and manually operable take up reel in asafety seat.

[0038] In this embodiment the safety seat 10 is rotatably mounted to abase (not shown). The base is secured to a motor vehicle seat using themotor vehicle seat safety belt or some other form of connection whichprevents forward movement of the base.

[0039] A tether strap 40 is secured to one side 41 the head end of thesafety seat 10 and extends rearwardly of the safety seat 10 to a tetherconnector 42. The tether strap 40 locates through an aperture 43 of thetether connector 42. The tether connector 42 attaches to an anchor point(not shown). The tether strap 40 can be disconnected from the anchorpoint by disconnection of the tether connector 42 from the anchor point.

[0040] The second end 45 of the tether strap 40 is attached to and woundonto a take up reel 46. The take up reel 46 is located within a recess47 formed in the backrest of the safety seat 10. The take up reel isspring loaded so that as the tether strap 40 is withdrawn from the takeup reel 46 the spring is tensioned to provide force necessary to rewindthe tether strap onto the reel. A button 48 is provided which whenpressed enables unwinding of the tether strap from the take up reelwhich will tension the spring to enable rewinding of the strap when thesafety seat is returned to its forward facing position and the button 48is pressed again.

The claims defining the invention are as follows:
 1. A tetherarrangement for a safety seat for a motor vehicle where the safety seatis rotatably mounted to a base, the tether arrangement comprising: atether strap, a tether connector on said strap for attachment to ananchor point, and a strap take up reel mounted on said safety seat ontowhich said tether strap is attached and wound so that when said safetyseat is rotated with respect to said base, said tether strap is able tounwind from and wind back onto said strap take up reel.
 2. A tetherarrangement as in claim 1 wherein the strap take up wheel is an inertiareel.
 3. A tether arrangement as in claim 2 wherein the inertia reel isof a type adapted to sense acceleration or deceleration of the motorvehicle and thereby lock the reel to prevent it from unwinding.
 4. Atether arrangement as in claim 2 wherein the inertia reel is of a typewhich when a slow continuous force is applied to the tether strap woundonto the reel the reel will rotate allowing the tether strap to unwindfrom the reel but if a sudden force is applied to the tether strap, thereel will lock whereby if the safety seat is rotated about its base, thereel will rotate thereby allowing the tether strap to lengthen byunwinding from the reel and unwinding of the inertia reel will tension aspring which will act to rewind the strap when the safety seat isreturned to its forward facing position but in an accident situation asudden force applied by the tether strap to the reel will cause it tolock.
 5. A tether arrangement as in claim 1 wherein the strap take upreel is manually operable whereby the take up reel is adapted for amanual operation to enable unwinding of the tether strap and theunwinding of the inertia reel will tension a spring which will act torewind the strap when the safety seat is returned to its forward facingposition.
 6. A tether arrangement as in claim 5 wherein the manualoperation is the pressing of a button to release the take up reel.
 7. Atether arrangement as in claim 1 having a single length of tether strapthat extends from the strap take up reel at a head end of the safetyseat to the anchor point.
 8. A tether arrangement as in claim 1 whereinone end of the tether strap is attached to one side of the safety seatwith the tether strap passing through the anchor point and the other endof the tether strap attached and wound onto the strap take up reel atthe other side of the safety seat whereby if the safety seat is rotatedone way the tether strap can extend directly from the strap take up reelto allow the rotation and if the safety seat is rotated the other waythe tether strap can extend from the strap take up reel and pass throughthe tether connector to allow lengthening of the tether strap on theother side.
 9. A tether arrangement as in claim 1 having an attachmentpoint or mounting recess for the strap take up reel on either side ofthe head end of the safety seat so that the strap take up reel may beplaced on either side of the head end of the safety seat and the otherend of the tether strap is mounted at the other side of the head end ofthe safety seat.
 10. A tether arrangement as in claim 1 having straptake up reels on both sides of the head end of the safety seat so thatthe seat can be rotated to either the right hand side or the left handside.
 11. A tether arrangement for a safety seat for a motor vehiclewhere the safety seat is rotatably mounted to a base substantially ashereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.